{{Warning|This is not the recommended way of using XBMC, as svn versions are always on the bleeding edge of development and thus can break sometimes. If you want a stable media center experience, go with the stable releases.}}

{{Warning|This is not the recommended way of using XBMC, as svn versions are always on the bleeding edge of development and thus can break sometimes. If you want a stable media center experience, go with the stable releases.}}

+

+

If you plan to use the pvr extensions of xbmc you will need to install the addons separately.

+

+

{{bc|# pacman -S xbmc-pvr-addons}}

==Configuration==

==Configuration==

Line 26:

Line 30:

===Autostarting at boot===

===Autostarting at boot===

−

To use XBMC on HTPC you may want to start XBMC automatically on boot. Since version 11.0-11 {{ic|xbmc}} package includes the xvmc group, user, and service file necessary to do this.

+

To use XBMC on HTPC you may want to start XBMC automatically on boot. Since version 11.0-11 {{ic|xbmc}} package includes the xbmc group, user, and service file necessary to do this.

To make XBMC start at system boot you should simply enable the service:

To make XBMC start at system boot you should simply enable the service:

Line 34:

Line 38:

===Enabling shutdown, restart, hibernate and suspend===

===Enabling shutdown, restart, hibernate and suspend===

−

Since version 12 XBMC supports power management via systemd logind daemon. To enable it you should have {{ic|polkit}} installed on your system.

+

Since version 12 XBMC supports power management via systemd logind daemon. To enable it you should have {{ic|polkit}} and {{ic|upower}} installed on your system.

+

+

{{bc|# pacman -S polkit upower}}

−

Add the following rule file which ail allow users added to ''power'' group shutdown, restart, hibernate and suspend computer.

+

Add the following rule file which will allow users added to ''power'' group shutdown, restart, hibernate and suspend computer.

Next, specify the lirc device. This varies with kernel version. As of 3.6.1 {{ic|/dev/lirc0}} should work with the default driver.

Next, specify the lirc device. This varies with kernel version. As of 3.6.1 {{ic|/dev/lirc0}} should work with the default driver.

Revision as of 08:31, 1 May 2013

XBMC (formerly "Xbox Media Center") is a free, open source (GPL) multimedia player that originally ran on the first-generation XBox, (not the newer Xbox 360), and now runs on computers running Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and iOS. XBMC can be used to play/view the most popular video, audio, and picture formats, and many more lesser-known formats, including:

Video - DVD-Video, VCD/SVCD, MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, XviD, Matroska

Audio - MP3, AAC.

Picture - JPG, GIF, PNG.

These can all be played directly from a CD/DVD, or from the hard-drive. XBMC can also play multimedia from a computer over a local network (LAN), or play media streams directly from the Internet. For more information, see the XBMC FAQ.

The SVN (testing) version of XBMC can be downloaded from the AUR (XBMC-git), e.g. using yaourt:

# yaourt -Syua xbmc-git

Warning: This is not the recommended way of using XBMC, as svn versions are always on the bleeding edge of development and thus can break sometimes. If you want a stable media center experience, go with the stable releases.

If you plan to use the pvr extensions of xbmc you will need to install the addons separately.

# pacman -S xbmc-pvr-addons

Configuration

Autostarting at boot

To use XBMC on HTPC you may want to start XBMC automatically on boot. Since version 11.0-11 xbmc package includes the xbmc group, user, and service file necessary to do this.

To make XBMC start at system boot you should simply enable the service:

# systemctl enable xbmc

Enabling shutdown, restart, hibernate and suspend

Since version 12 XBMC supports power management via systemd logind daemon. To enable it you should have polkit and upower installed on your system.

# pacman -S polkit upower

Add the following rule file which will allow users added to power group shutdown, restart, hibernate and suspend computer.

Using a Remote

As XBMC is geared toward being a remote-controlled media center, if your computer has an IR receiver, you will probably want to set up a remote using LIRC. Once you are sure your remote is working properly (tested with $ irw), add lircd to your DAEMONS Array and you'll be ready to create an Lircmap.xml file for it.

Using your favorite text editor, you'll need to go in and create an XML file at ~/.xbmc/userdata/Lircmap.xml (note the capital 'L'). Lircmap.xml format is as follows:

Device Name is whatever LIRC calls your remote. This is set using the Name directive in lircd.conf and can be viewed by running $ irw and pressing a few buttons on the remote. IRW will report the name of the button pressed and the name of the remote will appear on the end of the line.

LIRC_button is the name as defined in lircd.conf. If you automatically generated your lircd.conf using # irrecord, these are the names you selected for your button then. Refer back to LIRC for more information.

You may want to check out the very thorough Lircmap.xml page over at the XBMC Wiki for more help and information on this subject.

Fullscreen mode stretches XBMC accross multiple displays

If you have got a multi-monitor setup and don't want XBMC to stretch accross all screens, you can restrict the fullscreen mode to one display, by setting the environment variable SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD to the number of the desired target display. For example if you want XBMC to show up on display 0 you can add the following line to your Bashrc:

SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD=0

Note: Mouse corsor will be hold inside screen with XBMC.

Slowing down CD/DVD drive speed

The eject program from the util-linux package does a nice job for this, but its setting is cleared as soon as the media is changed.